Invasive Plant Removal Volunteer Work Day
Date: November 20th, 2018
Time: 10:00- 3:00
Where: Dalton Property, Madison County
Join us to learn about invasive species in Western North Carolina and remove them from one of our conservation easements in Madison County, the Dalton Property. We will include a brief lesson on the most common invasive species and how to identify them. We will be primarily concerned with Oriental Bittersweet, Stilt Grass, Spirea, Japanese Honeysuckle & Multi Flora Rose removal.
The Dalton property is located in Madison County, NC and was protected by SAHC in 2003. This 83-acre property was farmland before becoming the home of the Big Red Tomato Packing Company through 1987. The tract is now owned by the Dalton family and protected through a conservation easement with SAHC. The disturbance of the natural ecosystem on this property has opened it up to invasion from pioneer species. We hope to remove invasive plants in order to preserve natural ecosystem processes and provide a space for native plants to grow.
Volunteer activities will include invasive removal and site beautification. Work gloves, safety eye wear, hand tools, and first aid kits will be available on site. Feel free to bring personal gloves or tools. Please dress in layers and bring a rain jacket as we will be working at high elevations and the weather is unpredictable.
What will we be doing?
Invasive species management – we will use loppers and shears to remove invasive plants.
General clean-up– Collecting debris on the property.
More volunteer tasks will be available on the work day.
Basic Schedule
10:00 to 10:15 – Introduction, safety talk, invasive plant lesson. Volunteers will be briefed, divided into groups, and dispersed across the site
10:15- 12:30– Work in Groups. Volunteers will work with teams on a specific task with a designated leader.
12:30- 1:15– Lunch – please bring your own food.
1:15- 3:00– Work in Groups. Volunteers will continue to work in teams to complete tasks.
VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
SAHC’s Farmer Education Workshop Series is funded in part by a grant from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program under award number 2016-70017-25341 for Farm Pathways: Integrating Farmer Training with Land Access. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On Saturday June 3rd, ten members from Waynesville’s First United Methodist Church came out to our Doubleside Knob conservation property to help removed invasive Oriental Bittersweet vines.
One of the most fascinating qualities of the Roan Highlands is the complex bio-diversity of the region. High elevation grassy balds colliding with shrubs, spruce-fir and hardwood forests is a potent mix. In the Roan you can find 25 globally rare ecological communities, as declared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and 5 federally endangered species. This is a major reason why we value the Roan and do close monitoring of exotic invasive species.
On May 5, 2012, SAHC stewardship staff teamed up with a dedicated group of volunteers to remove exotic-invasive species from a beautiful mountain farmstead. The crew worked for a majority of the day cutting humongous invasive oriental bittersweet vines on SAHC’s newly-acquired Robinson Rough
